Title: 60 RevolutionsArtist: Gogol Bordello A friend posted this video on Facebook, and although I'm not ready to say that I'm a big fan, it has sure piqued my curiosity about this band. I remember sharing stages at festivals with Gogol Bordello but didn't pay much attention to what was going on during their set. Apparently, I missed some excitement. Their Wiki page calls the New York City natives' music 'Gypsy Punk' and say they were named after Russian/Ukrainian author Nikolai Gogol. I can dig it.
July 27, 2010 03:00 AM
DOWNLOADS: (317) PLAYS: (900) Brit Hume does his best to try to gloss over Fox's role in helping Andrew Breitbart attack Shirley Sherrod with his hit piece on the NAACP. Although Fox might not have mentioned Breitbart's edited tape on the air before she was fired, as Media Matters noted, they did have it on their web site. WALLACE: So, Brit, what do you -- what do you make of the Sherrod case? And what do you make of this argument that this is one more example of a 24/7 media culture run amok and that we're all guilty? HUME: Well, if this wasn't so depressing, this whole episode, it would make a wonderful farce. I mean, the misinformation that has emanated from this event, beginning with the misleading videotape or portion of videotape that started it all, although it should be noted for the record that the Breitbart version of the video did contain mention of how she came to see things in a different light -- so part of the redemption story was there. It just was completely overlooked in the -- in the early going by everybody, principally the administration, which reacted to this before it was reported really anywhere outside of the blogosphere and the Web. The misinformation then, obviously, led to her firing. But then there were all kinds of myths about how that came about. And you heard -- you heard Governor Dean here on this program this morning spouting one of the principal elements of that misinformation, which was that Fox News had been deeply involved in causing this, when Fox News, as you pointed out, Chris, hadn't even aired the woman's name until after she was forced out. So you know, this has been depressing. Yes, it's partly the 24/7 media cycle, but the 24/7 media cycle really hadn't gotten fully cranked up until after she was -- after she was forced out. LIASSON: Well, this was done in part out of a concern that they would be engulfed -- the administration would be engulfed by a 24/7 media cycle, and they were trying to do what they thought all smart communication shops do, which is to make a story not happen. HUME: They got engulfed, all right. LIASSON: Instead, this completely -- they got engulfed already. Look, every entity here who did not do their homework and practice good journalism and report the entire videotape is guilty, including Fox, who played it but not in its entirety even after she'd been fired; the NAACP, who had the videotape in their possession in their Georgia chapter, and didn't look at it before they condemned her remarks; and certainly, the administration, who fired someone without... (CROSSTALK) LIASSON: ... as they have said many times since... WALLACE: ... like, you know, as an afterthought. LIASSON: Yeah. They were -- they... WALLACE: They fired their own... LIASSON: Yes. WALLACE: ... employee without... LIASSON: There's no doubt that... WALLACE: ... doing due diligence. LIASSON: ... of all of the actors here, they bear the highest standard because they are the administration. They were her employers. There's no doubt. And they -- as they have acknowledged and apologized profusely from the... (CROSSTALK) WALLACE: Well, yeah, but they keep saying it's all part of this media culture. LIASSON: Look, there's no doubt... (CROSSTALK) LIASSON: That doesn't absolve them of responsibility. WALLACE: What about the argument, Mara, that they were -- they were elected to change the cycle? They -- what was change about? What was... LIASSON: They cannot change the cycle. They have not -- if -- I personally... WALLACE: Well, do you think maybe not preemptively firing people would be a step... LIASSON: That would be... WALLACE: ... in the right direction? LIASSON: ... a good thing. And you know what? You know, this was a sorry spectacle from A to Z. The only good thing I can think of coming out of this is from now on, hopefully, the administration, other media organizations will not take things -- take little clips from partisan Web sites and put them out as if they are the facts.
July 27, 2010 02:00 AM
Without much fanfare, the US Copyright Office has made some modifications to its 2008 rules enumerating instances where defeating DRM will not be considered to be a violation of the DMCA. Those most likely to have an impact on most users:
- Copying and creating clips from a legally-purchased DVD for the purpose of use in: a) documentary filmmaking; b) non-commercial videos; and c) educational use by college and university professors and students.
This is good news for a number of reasons. It enables groups like Brave New Films and others to use short clips for the purpose of creating new videos without any fear of receiving a DMCA violation notice, and allows for a higher-quality clip than could be obtained via capture.
- Defeating locks on wireless smartphones (jailbreaking) in order to run software made by third-parties. The iPhone is routinely jailbroken by many in order to run apps which are not approved by Apple or available in Apple's approved app store. Jailbreakers have, in the past, faced the threat that the DMCA would be used to keep users from jailbreaking the phone because a copy of the phone's firmware is used as the foundation for the enhanced version used to jailbreak the phone.
The actual text of the rule takes a whack at Apple's iPhone silo in the process:
Apple's objections to the installation and use of "unapproved" applications appears to have nothing to do with its interests as the owner of copyrights in the computer programs embodied in the iPhone, and running the unapproved applications has no adverse effect on those interests. Rather, Apple's objections relate to its interests as a manufacturer and distributor of a device, the iPhone.
- Unlocking locked phones - Another iPhone/ATT volley, it appears. I found this language particularly pointed:
Moreover, because it appears that the opposition to designating the proposed class is based primarily on the desires of wireless carriers to preserve an existing business model that has little if anything to do with protecting works of authorship...
...It seems clear that the primary purpose of the locks is to keep consumers bound to their existing networks, rather than to protect the rights of copyright owners in their capacity as copyright owners. This observation is not a criticism of the mobile phone industry's business plans and practices, which may well be justified for reasons having nothing to do with copyright law and policy, but simply a recognition of existing circumstances.
This echoes my biggest frustration about the mobile phone industry. I love my iPhone, but I'm not in love with AT&T. I should be able to pull out my AT&T sim card and connect to another wireless network with the same phone number and the same phone. Locking the phone locks me to a network not of my choice. That's not how a free market should work.
These are some pretty substantial rules, made by regulators as authorized under the law.
All of which proves that good government isn't only about what happens in the House and Senate, but what happens in the regulatory agencies after the House and Senate have done their job. For all of the complaints about how the legislative calendar has not fulfilled expectations, it's worth noting that a major shift in how government operates is underway. Regulations actually mean something, and benefit consumers.
How novel.
(via Techcrunch)
July 27, 2010 01:00 AM
Your exemplary new names for the gaggle of Gosselins made me nostalgic for the days when we came up with all those creative and vibrant monikers for the Gurdon Gang. And that made me wonder what Meghan and the kids have been up to lately. So, I made the effort to check out the latest exemplar of Meghan’s twice-weekly column at The Washington Examiner (Motto: “We’re not even the Washington Times, but we are a paper. Really!”). And it’s a good thing I did, because it seems that only son Trojan has become a teenager, and has begun to rebel. Sure, we all saw this coming, but when it did, it was more brutal than any of us could have imagined. So, let’s observe for a moment and then start the intervention.
How to be, like, incredibly boring
“Jonathan and me had less than the other guys!”
“Jonathan and I had fewer than the other guys,” I corrected automatically.
“Whatever,” said the 13-year-old, and if I didn’t know him to be above such gestures, I might have suspected him of rolling his eyes. The phrase in our family for this teenage reflex is “glancing up at the ceiling and back.” So far he’d resisted.
“No, really, it matters,” I insisted. “If you’re talking about something that can be counted individually, like dollars or pizzas, you say “fewer.” If you’re talking about material that comes in quantity, like sugar or fabric or money, you say ‘less.’”
The boy looked at me. He asked: “Do you seriously think I care?”
“Darling, you should,” I said.
“But I don’t,” he replied, his blue eyes betraying not a flicker of insolence. “Honestly, I don’t care. No one does.”
Egad, young Plato has not only used his eyes in an unapproved manner, but he has also declared that he doesn’t care about grammar! And we all know where this road is going to lead him: to an illpaid and unprestigious job at the NRO.
So, if you have any parenting tips or English useage rules to share, please, for the love of all that’s holy, do so now!
Oh, and here’s a photo of Meghan and husband Hugo (they’re the ones in front), courtesy of “The Frump Forum.” I don’t know what is going on here, but if you want to speculate, I would really enjoy it.
July 27, 2010 12:11 AM
DOWNLOADS: (283) PLAYS: (474) An attack on Iran isn't the worst possible outcome from Tehran's desire to have nuclear weapons, according to a former CIA director appointed by George W. Bush. Gen. Michael Hayden told CNN's Candy Crowley Sunday that an attack on Iran now "seems inexorable." "In my personal thinking -- and I need to emphasize that -- I have begun to consider that may not be the worst of the possible outcomes," he said.
July 27, 2010 12:00 AM
An intelligence analyst lip-syncs to Lady Gaga, Bob Dudley replaces Tony Hayward, and Fareed Zakaria thinks Jon's beard will catch on.
July 27, 2010 12:00 AM
The cast of "Jersey Shore" rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
July 27, 2010 12:00 AM
Fareed Zakaria thinks President Obama needs to consult the gray beards of American strategy for guidance in Afghanistan.
July 27, 2010 12:00 AM
BP did not give Tony Hayward a golden parachute because it decided parachutes were a costly and unnecessary safety apparatus.
July 27, 2010 12:00 AM
An army intelligence analyst records classified Afghan war documents onto a Lady Gaga CD.
July 27, 2010 12:00 AM
